School 1977 vs. School 2007

[seabhcan]

(Sorry if this is posted somewhere already...)

School 1977 vs. School 2007

Scenario 1: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1977 - Crowd gathers.. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up mates.

2007 - Police are called, Armed Response Unit arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. Mobiles phones with evidence of fight are confiscated. Both are charged with assault, ASBOs are taken out and suspended even though Johnny started it. Diversionary conferences and parent meetings conducted. Mobile phone video shown on 6 internet sites.


Scenario 2: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.

1977 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given 6 of the best. Returns to class, sits still and never disrupts the class again.

2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Counselled to death. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADHD. School gets extra funding because Jeffrey has a disability. Jeffrey drops out of school.


Scenario 3: Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him the slipper.

1977 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normally, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. Psychologist convinces Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mum has an affair with the psychologist. Psychologist gets a promotion.


Scenario: Mark brings cigarettes to school .

1977 - Mark shares a smoke with the school principal out on the smoking area.

2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from School for drug possession. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.


Scenario: Mohammed fails GCSE English.

1977 - Mohammed retakes his exam, passes and goes to college.

2007 - Mohammed's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally, insisting that making English a requirement in school is racist. Civil Liberties Association files class action lawsuit against state school system and his English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Mohammed is given his qualification anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.


Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers, puts them in a model plane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.

1977 - Ants die.

2007 - MI5 and police are called and Johnny is charged with perpetrating acts of terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly with American airlines ever again.


Scenario: Johnny falls during playtime and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.

1977 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.

2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy; becomes gay.

[popper]

Busy in work today Seabhcan

[seabhcan]

Busy in work today Seabhcan

Waiting for a call from those lovely people in FedEx...

[zakalwe]

another difference i noted when talking with colleagues over lunch:

1980 finish school - go inter-railing. live on £50, a swiss army knife, a roll of twine and 7 buttons for 8 weeks. travel throughout europe with little foreign languages (but reasonable latin), travel through eastern bloc countries. return home with exotic sun tan and stories about dancing on tables and drinking vodka with locals in hungary without able to speak one word to eachother!

2000-2008 finish school - get J1. get "loan" of Eur5,000 from doddy. get fake "21" provisional licence. work 2 weeks in a restaurant/country club earning $250 a night in tips regaling dumb american couples with tails of the irish famine "yeah, we like so totally take a horse and cart to college, and like, the potatoes were so, like totally, em...lost and we only had evian and asparagus for like 5 years, it was totally awful and i was so, like, oh my god, to siofra and aifric, we going to, totally like, starve and stuff". arrive home $2500 in debt and even more annoying american accents.

[seabhcan]

another difference i noted when talking with colleagues over lunch:

1980 finish school - go inter-railing. live on £50, a swiss army knife, a roll of twine and 7 buttons for 8 weeks. travel throughout europe with little foreign languages (but reasonable latin), travel through eastern bloc countries. return home with exotic sun tan and stories about dancing on tables and drinking vodka with locals in hungary without able to speak one word to eachother!

2000-2008 finish school - get J1. get "loan" of Eur5,000 from doddy. get fake "21" provisional licence. work 2 weeks in a restaurant/country club earning $250 a night in tips regaling dumb american couples with tails of the irish famine "yeah, we like so totally take a horse and cart to college, and like, the potatoes were so, like totally, em...lost and we only had evian and asparagus for like 5 years, it was totally awful and i was so, like, oh my god, to siofra and aifric, we going to, totally like, starve and stuff". arrive home $2500 in debt and even more annoying american accents.

Except for the latin, the top one was me in 1999. I dragged a 25kg rucksack, including tent and cooking stuff. You get blank looks if you mention interrailing to people these days - It was, like, THE, like, totally best summer, like, ever.

[Aindriu]

Reading that certainly made me chuckle with the irony of it

[zakalwe]

another difference i noted when talking with colleagues over lunch:

1980 finish school - go inter-railing. live on £50, a swiss army knife, a roll of twine and 7 buttons for 8 weeks. travel throughout europe with little foreign languages (but reasonable latin), travel through eastern bloc countries. return home with exotic sun tan and stories about dancing on tables and drinking vodka with locals in hungary without able to speak one word to eachother!

2000-2008 finish school - get J1. get "loan" of Eur5,000 from doddy. get fake "21" provisional licence. work 2 weeks in a restaurant/country club earning $250 a night in tips regaling dumb american couples with tails of the irish famine "yeah, we like so totally take a horse and cart to college, and like, the potatoes were so, like totally, em...lost and we only had evian and asparagus for like 5 years, it was totally awful and i was so, like, oh my god, to siofra and aifric, we going to, totally like, starve and stuff". arrive home $2500 in debt and even more annoying american accents.

Except for the latin, the top one was me in 1999. I dragged a 25kg rucksack, including tent and cooking stuff. You get blank looks if you mention interrailing to people these days - It was, like, THE, like, totally best summer, like, ever.

indeed, and i'm planning to go on another one for "nostalgia" reasons later this summer!!!

[seabhcan]

another difference i noted when talking with colleagues over lunch:

1980 finish school - go inter-railing. live on £50, a swiss army knife, a roll of twine and 7 buttons for 8 weeks. travel throughout europe with little foreign languages (but reasonable latin), travel through eastern bloc countries. return home with exotic sun tan and stories about dancing on tables and drinking vodka with locals in hungary without able to speak one word to eachother!

2000-2008 finish school - get J1. get "loan" of Eur5,000 from doddy. get fake "21" provisional licence. work 2 weeks in a restaurant/country club earning $250 a night in tips regaling dumb american couples with tails of the irish famine "yeah, we like so totally take a horse and cart to college, and like, the potatoes were so, like totally, em...lost and we only had evian and asparagus for like 5 years, it was totally awful and i was so, like, oh my god, to siofra and aifric, we going to, totally like, starve and stuff". arrive home $2500 in debt and even more annoying american accents.

Except for the latin, the top one was me in 1999. I dragged a 25kg rucksack, including tent and cooking stuff. You get blank looks if you mention interrailing to people these days - It was, like, THE, like, totally best summer, like, ever.

indeed, and i'm planning to go on another one for "nostalgia" reasons later this summer!!!

Will you be on the same budget?

[eyeSpy]

i arrived back in dublinfrom greece one september with a train ticket and 20p to ring my folks for a lift when i got to Kent station in Cork.
before i got the train i went to o connell street and ate left over chips in mcdonalds.
aer lingus were kind enough to give me extra food on the flight too.
happiest and skinniest days. i guess if i hadnt the safety net of the folks it would have been a lot less of an experience and more of a nightmare.

[Podolski]

1977 - little Seabhcan doodles on his geography copybook and fires paper airplane at teacher.

2008 - the internet has arrived and Seabhcan learns how to troll.